Weekly Film Listings for October 3

Odeon 383-0513 Capitol 6 412-2255 Caprice 474-3212 Cinecenta 721-8365 University 4 721-1171 Sidney Star 655-1171 IMAX 953-IMAX Roxy 382-3370 SilverCity 381-9300

OPENING

***¾ Religulous - (Odeon) Political satirist Bill Maher is in fine form in this documentary look at what can happen when religious dogma overwhelms rational thought. The brimstone starts bubbling this Friday. See review.

Appaloosa - (Capitol) Actor-director Ed Harris acts in and directed this promising western about two men hired to rescue a small town from a vicious and greedy rancher. With Viggo Mortensen and Jeremy Irons. Starts Friday.

Blindness - (SilverCity) Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore star in a grim, allegorical film about what happens when an epidemic of blindness afflicts an entire city. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago. Starts Friday.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua - (Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) This wacky Disney comedy tells the story of a pampered Beverly Hills chihuahua who gets lost while her master is visiting Mexico and has to enlist a small army of fellow doggies to get her back to safety. The silliness starts Friday.

Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist - (Odeon/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) Canadian super-nerd Michael Cera (Juno) stars in a romantic comedy where a short stint pretending to be a cute girl’s boyfriend launches him on an amazing adventure. Starts Friday.

Flash of Genius - (Odeon) Greg Kinnear stars in this true-life account of a small-time inventor who took Big Auto to court after they stole his design for a revolutionary windshield wiper. Starts Friday.

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People - (Capitol) Simon Pegg stars in a comedy about a disillusioned British intellectual who gets hired to work at a trendy New York magazine whose shallow celebration of celebrity is precisely what the man most despises. Starts Friday.

CONTINUING

***½ Burn After Reading - (Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4) The Coen Brothers are in fine form in this black-as-coal screwball farce about a couple of fools (Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt) who decide to blackmail a just-fired CIA analyst (John Malkovich) after they find a disc with his tell-all memoirs on it. Add in a whole daisy chain of adulterous relationships, unhappy wives and nincompoop spies and you’ve got yourself a fine comedy. With George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins.

** Choke - (Odeon) Sam Rockwell is an Oedipal wreck in this edgy, low-budget comedy-drama about a sex-addict scam artist who works in a historical theme park and struggles to pay his senile mother’s hospital bills. There are a few interesting moments, but this is an erratic, near-exploitational film that has no control over its emotional tone.

*** The Dark Knight - (IMAX, 7:00/Roxy, 7:00) The dark death of Heath Ledger casts a shadow over the latest Batman tale. Although initially gripping, this is an A-list film trying way too hard to find thematic depth in comic book material. With Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

**¼ Eagle Eye - (Star, 7:15; Sat.-Sun., 2:00/Capitol/SilverCity/Uni 4/Caprice) This slicky but silly thriller, a high-tech throwback to those paranoid flicks from the ‘70s, stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as two innocents blackmailed into performing risky criminal acts by a mysterious woman who uses high-tech surveillance and violence to control them. But why?

*** Ghost Town - (Odeon/SilverCity) British comic Ricky Gervais brings his “comedy of discomfort” to this tale of a hugely unlikable dentist who has to develop a modicum of social skills in order to appease a ghost that has decided to haunt him until he agrees to break up the impending marriage of his widow to a jerk. Co-starring Greg Kinnear and Téa Leoni.

Igor - (Star, Sat., 7:00; Sun., 2:15/SilverCity/Uni 4) The vocal talents of John Cusack star in this animated feature that spoofs Frankenstein movies as it tells the tale of an evil scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant who has dreams of self -improvement: becoming a mad scientist himself.

**¾ Lakeview Terrace - (Capitol/SilverCity) The reliably misanthropic writer-director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) is behind this racially tinged psychological thriller about a cop (Samuel L. Jackson) who increasingly torments his new next-door neighbours, an interracial couple who have attracted his hatred.

Mamma Mia! Sing Along! - (Star, Fri., Sun.-Wed., 7:00; Sat., 2:15) Everyone's favourite ABBA-based musical comes to the screen, starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. Weirdly edited and cheesier than feta pie, this is the year’s funnest bad movie, even moreso now that you can sing along with the bouncing ball.

Miracle at St. Anna - (SilverCity) Spike Lee has been shot down by indifferent reviews for his latest project, an epic war tale involving a quartet of soldiers from an all-black platoon fighting in Italy during WWII.

*½ My Best Friend’s Girl - (Capitol/SilverCity) This toxic and rather vile romantic comedy stars Dana Cook as a “professional jerk” who is hired by other guys to take their prospective girlfriend out on a date so that they will look good by comparison. Unfortunately, when he provides this service for a friend (Jason Biggs), he and the girl in question (Kate Hudson) unexpectedly fall in love.

*½ Pineapple Express - (Roxy, 9:45) A stoner duo are pursued by a ruthless killer-cop after one of them witnesses her commit a murder. Although this starts out as a goofy pothead comedy it gradually deteriorates into an astonishingly violent (and unfunny) piece of trash that wastes the talents of Seth Rogen and James Franco.

**¼ Nights in Rodanthe - (Capitol) Richard Gere and Diane Lane bring lots of soulful star power to this romantic drama about late-blooming love; unfortunately, what starts as a passable chick flick deteriorates into an awkward weeper in the final third.

**½ The Women - (Odeon/SilverCity) A remake of the 1939 George Cukor movie, this dramedy focuses on a woman who leaves her adulterous husband behind while seeking the support of several society gal-pals. What was originally satiric has been softened by a sitcom treatment; the result is predictable and only mildly entertaining. Starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes and Candice Bergen.

IMAX

The Alps - (11am, 4:00, 6:00)

***The Dark Knight - (7:00)

Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia - (10am, noon, 3:00)

***½ Wild Ocean - (1:00, 5:00)

SCREENINGS

Movie Monday - (See Short Cuts) Showing The Devil Plays Hardball, a “radical interventionist” documentary that asks the provocative question: if you could get someone off of the streets, would you? Could you? Also showing The Schoolhouse, a short about “wet housing” in Toronto. 6:30pm at Eric Martin Pavillion, 2326 Trent. By donation. 595-FLIC. moviemonday.ca

Open Cinema - (See Short Cuts) Launching their sixth season with an evening of environmental film and discussion. 7pm WEDNESDAY at Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad. $10 suggested donation. opencinema.ca

From the Basement - This series of exclusively filmed alt-rock performances continues with Beck, Sonic Youth, Jarvis Cocker, Jamie Lidell and Jose Gonzales sharing the spotlight.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to strike action affecting the SUB, Cinecenta is currently closed (but could reopen at any time). Phone 250-721-8365 or log on to cinecenta.com for updates.